FRENCH GUIANA, French colony situ ated on the northeast coast of South America, in 4° 56' 20" N. lat. and 54° 41' W. long.
French Guiana has an area about the third of France. Three chains of mountains run through the country parallel to the coast: the Tumuc Humas ranges (1,250 to 2,500 feet), the central chain (650 to 1,300 feet) and the coastal chain (200 to 950 feet). A large number of water courses intersect the country. They flow from south to north, throwing their waters into the Atlantic Ocean after being .swelled by several tributaries or creeks. The more important of these rivers are the Maroni Mana, Sinnamary, Kourou, Cayenne, Conte, Mahury and Oyapoc.
The temperature is not as hot as is generally supposed; it varies between 25° and 30° C., but it has a weakening and de pressing effect on account of the humidity of the atmosphere, the hygrometric degree exceed ing 90 per cent. The dry season lasts from June to November, the wet season during the other seven months of the year. The capital of the island is Cayenne, at the mouth of the river of that name, and the port can accommodate ships of 500 tons.
Guiana was discovered by Chris topher Columbus in 1498 but it was not until 1500 that Vincent Pinson first explored the coasts. During the 17th century numerous European expeditions were carried out in Guiana. In 1604 Rivardiere landed on the bor ders of the Mahury, in 1643 Poncet de Bretigny made an expedition to the Cap du Nord; in 1652 Equinoctial France was explored. In 1654 the Dutch took the budding colony and kept it for 10 years, but de la Barre expelled them in 1664 and took possession in the name of the Grande Compagnie des Indes Occidentales. In 1667 the English made a surprise attack on Cayenne, devastated the country, and withdrew. In 1676 it was again occupied by the Dutch who were, however, expelled by the fleet of Admiral d'Estries.
Numerous attempts to colonize the place were unsuccessful on account of poor means of organization, the Kourou expedition being the most disastrous and ending in a veritable fiasco which contributed in gaining for Guiana an un merited reputation which has seriously handi capped its development. However, thanks to
the efforts displayed by men like Melouet, Guizan and Touat, better results were obtained and the country was in a flourishing condition for several years. When the Second Republic to its eternal honor— abolished slavery on 27 April 1848, the negroes excited with their new liberty refused to work and the problem of labor became the crucial question in Guiana as in the West Indies for the development of the rich natural resources of the country. Since 1854 the discovery of gold mines resulted in a general exodus to the great forests where the are; the plantations which had sur vived so many vicissitudes were abandoned and serious efforts were necessary to place agricul tural development on a proper basis again. Moreover, memories of the unfortunate Kourou expedition had a disastrous effect on the colony and was still further aggravated by the dispatch later on of exiles to Cayenne and Sinnamary as the outcome of the Fructidor incidents in September 1797. Since that time Guiana has been considered the dumping ground "par ex cellence° for deportations and in 1854 the colony was officially designated as a penal settlement.
Government.—At the head of the local ad ministration is a governor, assisted by a privy council. Guiana is represented in the Chamber of Deputies but not in the Senate. From an administrative point of view, the colony is divided into communes each of which is admin istered by a mayor assisted by a municipal board.
Commerce, Trade, The trade of the colony for 1913 amounted to 24,717,302 francs, made up of 12,494,765 francs, imports, and 12, 222,537 francs, exports. Its business has not been much affected by the war, amounting to 20,989,045 francs in 1914 and 21,543,502 francs in 1915. (Franc = 19 cents United States cur rency; for general purposes of comparison, 5 f rancs$1).